Meat-tenderer



(No IQIodel.)

E. RICHMOND.

I MEAT TBNDERER.

No. 307,802. Patented Nov. 11, 1884.

lUNrTEn STATES PATENT EErcE.

ENOS RICHMOND, or ALLOWAY, NEW nnsnr.

MEAT-TENDERER.

iPESIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 307,802, dated November 11, 1884.

I Application filed December 10, 1883. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ENos RICHMOND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Alloway, in the county of Salem and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mcat-Tenderers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My improvement relates to that class of in ventions known as meat choppers or tenderers, and it has for its object to'provide a neat and simple device for household use, whereby the labor attending the reduction of meat to a tender state is much reduced, and such reduction greatly facilitated.

To this end the invention consists in such details of construction and combination of parts as will be hereinafter distinctly pointed out. 'Referring to the drawings hereunto annexed, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the device as it appears when ready for use. Fig. 2 represents a vertical sectional elevation of the same, to more thoroughly illustrate the construction and arrangement of parts. Fig. 3 is a view showing the construction of the stem to which is secured a perforated disk or plate, and Figs. 4 and 5- are views in detail of several parts of the device.

Reference being had to the letters marked thereon, A represents the head of the de- W vice, which is preferably made somewhat 'heavy, in order to add slightly to the force of the blows in the pounding or chopping process. This head is provided with an'ordinary handle, B, by which the same is manipulated, and has formed or bored in it, in the center of its cross-section, a vertical slot or passage, a. This passage extends up through the head nearly but not quite to the top, as shown. In the bottom or plane face of the head are arranged teeth or cutters b, which may, if desired, have their cutting-edges irregularly arranged, in order to more completely destroy the fibers of the meat as it is being out.

0 represents astern or rod having centrally secured to its lower end a disk or plate, 0.

-while its longer end d is left free to move in and out of a suitable opening made in the side of the head, which communicates with the vertical passage a therein. By this means,when the stem 0 is slipped in the passage aand the perforations in disk 0 made to register with the teeth,the end (2 of the catch enters the slot 8, and thus retains the said stern and prevents it from coming out until released by the operator.

E represents a spiral spring, located in the upper end of the passage (4 in the head, whose lower end surrounds the smaller portion of the stem 0, and bears upon the ridge or flange e.

In practice I have found that small particles of meat-are apt to dry on the teeth I), and to afford an easy means for cleansing the same I take an elastic washer, b, and slip it on all the teeth at once by punching, and push it up adj acentto the bottom face of the head. \Vhen the teeth have become clogged, all that is necessary to do is to draw off the washer, which, as it is being drawn ofi, thoroughly cleanses each tooth by removing the adherent particles. This washer can again be replaced as before.

Another difficulty overcome by my utensil is that by removing the stem 0 from the head each part can be very effectually and thoroughly cleansed, which could not be accomplished if the parts were not so readily separable.

In operation the utensil is grasped by the handle, and the teeth by successive blows brought down upon the meat. .At each stroke the disk 0 is forced upward against the head by the portions of meat around the teeth coming up between them, thus compressing the spring E, the disk being each time forced back by the reaction of said spring, and serving to push the meat away from the teeth on its re turn.

I am aware that in this class of inventions it is not new, broadly, to provide the series of cutting-teeth with spring-actuated cleaningplates, and also aware that such plates have been provided with stems extending up into the head of the utensil in which the spring is located; but I am not aware of the particular construction and arrangement herein claimed. Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. The head provided with the teeth I) and having the vertical passage (0 and the spring located in said passage, in combination with the rod or stem formed with the flange e and slot 0, and having secured-to its lower end the perforated disk, and the spring-catch D, socured in the side of the head, substantially in the manner described.

ENOS RICHMOND.

\Vitnesses:

T. W. SoRAN, GEORGE T. MAsoN. 

